FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT CAMBRIA COUNTY - PAGE 4

EBENSBURG, Pa. ? A volunteer firefighter has pleaded guilty to setting five fires in Cambria County. Charles Edward Shenego was serving with the Lower Yoder Volunteer Fire Company when the fires broke out at a vacant house, in trash and recycling bins and near a garage last spring and summer. A police detective says Shenego admitted to setting the fires because the 20-year-old firefighter said there were no good fire calls in the area and because he was looking for excitement.

Born Jan. 14, 1935, in Richland Township, Cambria County, daughter of Carl C. and Verda (Helman) Dunmyer. Preceded in death by parents; brothers, Robert and Carl Dunmyer; and son, Rickie Ray. Survived by these children, Marlin Wade, Somerset, and Linda Arlene, Pittsburgh. Also survived by special friend, Charles. Sister of Rose Mary Cummins, Maryland, Mildred Blough and Catherine Blough, both of Hollsopple. Family is receiving friends from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday and from 9 a.m. until time of service at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the George E. Mason Funeral Home Inc., Davidsville.

EBENSBURG, Pa. (AP) ? The planned sale of a county-run nursing home in western Pennsylvania will mean $317,000 more in tax revenues each year to its local property taxing districts. Grane Healthcare plans to pay $14.3 million for Laurel Crest Rehabilitation & Special Care Center near Johnstown. The sale is scheduled to take effect Jan. 1. Cambria County is selling the home because it was losing money and because it has had difficulty keeping enough residents in the 370-bed home to justify its staff.

Jennifer M. Matkoskey and Scott E. Kennell are announcing their engagement. Miss Matkoskey is the daughter of Kathleen Matkoskey, Friedens. She is a 1995 graduate of Somerset Area High School and a 2000 graduate of Geneva College, Beaver Falls with a Bachelor of Science degree in human resources. She is a sales manager for Nextel in Johnstown. Her fiance is the son of Larry and Linda Kennell, Stoystown. He is a 1997 graduate of North Star High School and a 2003 graduate of the Johnstown Municipal Police Academy, Johnstown with an Act 120 certificate.

A proposed U.S. Commerce Department foreign trade zone in Cambria County will generate economic opportunities and create jobs for Somerset County companies, Cambria County Commissioner Douglas R. Lengenfelder said. While creation of a foreign trade zone at the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport is still at least a year and a half away, an Argentina wine maker - Tapiz Vineyards - has committed to having product bottled in Cambria by Somerset County-based Glades Pike Bottling, which would operate as E&M Bottling.

The Somerset County commissioners voted Tuesday to refinance bonds associated with the purchase of the Quemahoning Reservoir, a move that is expected to save county taxpayers more than $500,000 over the next 20 years. Commissioners John Vatavuk and Pamela Tokar-Ickes agreed to allow the Cambria Somerset Authority to look into refinancing 2001 and 2006 bonds with PNC Bank. The bonds now cost both counties $7,521,000 with a payment schedule that concludes in 2033. The refinancing could amount to about $563,000 in savings for both Somerset and Cambria counties.

SEVEN FIELDS, Pa. ? One Butler County community is responding to rising gasoline prices by letting some of its employees work four-day weeks. Seven Fields is a small borough near Cranberry, about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh. Mayor Edward Bayne III says the borough does not require its employees to live there and up to 10 of them live up to 40 minutes away. A few other employers in western Pennsylvania are toying with the idea. St. Francis University in Loretto, Cambria County, will also let employees work four-day weeks over the summer.

One person was taken to Windber Medical Center after their vehicle crashed into a residence at 152 Richland Avenue in Scalp Level Borough, Cambria County. The crash occurred at about 6:30 p.m. The driver lost control of the vehicle while negotiating a curve and drove through a yard before striking the house, according to Scalp Level firefighters. Four people were in the vehicle when it crashed - three of whom refused treatment at the scene. Paint Township police did not release the identity of anyone in the vehicle.

Changing political parties failed to buoy former republican Bill Telek's effort to oust Democratic incumbent state Rep. Tom Yewcic from his seat in the 72nd District. Tuesday, Yewcic walked away one step closer to his seventh term by nearly a three-to-one margin at the second meeting between the men. He captured 85 percent of the vote in Cambria County, with 4,299 votes to Telek's 777. In Somerset County with five precincts still out, Yewcic had nearly 57 percent of the vote.

Somerset Borough police Chief Randy Cox said the police department's most recent investigation into the Somerset County Jail is complete. “The matter from our perspective is closed,” he said. “Anything that occurs in the future will be a new investigation. The paperwork is not done, but there will be no changes from this point on.” The investigation began in March after Commissioner Joe Betta went to the jail to talk to employees about PrimeCare Medical, the jail's health care provider.